Crema

Crema (1098-1335) was a city-state located in Lombardy, northern Italy, in the present-day Province of Cremona. The city was founded in the 4th century while Milan (Mediolanium) was the capital of the Western Roman Empire; its name is derived from Lombard krem, meaning "little hill". Today, 34,000 people live in the city.

History
Krem was founded during the 300s CE while Mediolanium to the north served as the capital of the Western Roman Empire. It was named after its elevation over the Serio River, as "Krem" is Lombard for "little hill". The city was given as a gift to a Bishop in 1098 by Tuscany, and it became an independent state. Crema was allied to the Pope as a Guelph state during the Guelphs and Ghibellines wars (1159-1529), and the city-state was sacked by Frederick Barbarossa's Imperial army in 1159. Its population was massacred and their heads used to play soccer, which resulted in Pope Alexander III forming an alliance of cities to counterattack.

During the ensuing Wars of Guelphs and Ghibellines, the city was rebuilt in 1185 as a castle, but Henry VI of Germany returned the city to his ally of Cremona instead. In 1335 the communal independence ended when Gian Galeazzo Visconti of the Duchy of Milan conquered Crema. The city remained affluent under Milanese and Spanish rule, selling livestock, cheeses, wood, and iron, traditions it keeps today.